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Showing posts with label Nigerian Federal Government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nigerian Federal Government. Show all posts
The Federal
Government has declared Wednesday as public holiday to commemorate the maiden
National Democracy Day.
This was contained
in a statement released by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior,
Georgina Ehuriah. The Federal government congratulated Nigerians at home
and abroad for the entrenchment of democratic rule in the country.
The Permanent
Secretary called on Nigerians to continue to cherish the sacrifice made by
heroes of democracy, particularly those who lost their lives in the struggle
for the actualisation of democratic governance in the country.
Social Workers chide NASS, warn Buhari against assenting Chartered
Institute of Social Work Practitioners Bill
The Nigeria
Association of Social Workers (NASoW), the umbrella body of all Social Workers
in Nigeria, has kicked against the substitution of “Nigeria Council for Social
Work [Establishment] Bill 2019”, the bill which seeks to regulate the
profession of Social Work in Nigeria, for Chartered Institute of Social Work
Practitioners Bill from the Institute of Social Work of Nigeria (ISWON), by the
National Assembly.
NASoW, in a
statement signed by its National President, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha, copies of
which were made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, on
Sunday, by the Public Relations Officer of the association, Mr. Musliudeen
Adebayo, urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to sign any other bill aside the
Nigerian Council for Social Work Bill which will give total control of Social
Work profession in Nigeria to the Federal Government through the Federal
Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
We recall
that the Senate recently reconsidered the Nigeria Council for Social Work
(Establishment) Bill 2019 which is expected to be transmitted to President
Muhammadu Buhari for his assent. The bill has been in the National Assembly
since 2012 before
it was reconsidered and passed by the Senate on Wednesday 15th May 2019.
The bill had
earlier been passed by the Senate in 2017 after which it was rejected by
President Buhari in February 2018 due to some grey areas. The bill was sent
back to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development for correction.
The areas
which made Buhari to reject the bill have been corrected with the support
of NASoW, ministries of Justice, Labour among others and the bill was taken
back to the Assembly for reconsideration.
But Mustapha, while
speaking, said that the association was surprised that the National Assembly,
instead of transmitting the original Nigeria Council for Social Work Bill to
President Buhari for his assent, abandoned and substituted the Nigerian
council’s bill by given “Chartered Institute of Social Work Practitioners
[Establishment] Bill 2019” accelerated hearing and concurrence passage and sent
it to Buhari for his assent.
According to him,
“The Association viewed this with suspicion, particularly the speed at which
this was done and the glaring preference of the private business bill to a
Government Controlled Controlled Council Bill.
“Chartered
Institute Bill is alien to Social Work profession because Social Workers do not
need chartered certificates to take care of the vulnerable and the voiceless.
The chartered nonsense is highly ridiculous because there is nothing like
Chartered Social Workers, chartered Nurses, Chartered Doctors etc in
humanitarian professions.
“The regulatory of
Social Work profession in all over the world is always under the control of
Government and not under the control of private Shylock organizations, just
like it is done in other professions like medicine, law, pharmacy and nursing.
“It is very painful
that the National Assembly cannot read between the line. The bill is not a
genuine commitment to social work development in Nigeria, it is not an altruism
because what would be welfare to ISWON in terms of economic gains would be ill
fare to all social workers and clients.”
“In order to
regulate and professionalise Social Work practice as obtainable in other
developed countries, NASoW in conjunction with Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs and Social Development sponsored a Bill which seeks to establish “The
Nigeria Council for Social Work” (a regulatory arm of the Federal Government of
Nigeria) which shall regulate the practice of Social Work in Nigeria. This Council
shall have same powers like Dental and Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery
Council of Nigeria,
“It is crystal
clear in all the aforementioned professions that it is the Federal Government
that regulates the practice while the practitioners come together to form
association/unions that will cater for welfare of its members. Regulation of
similar professions is done by The Federal Government of Nigeria which is the
common practice in all countries of the world; and not by private individuals
or organization.
“We are surprised
that the National Assembly, can concurred a bill that did not pass through due
process and left the Original bill that passed through the constitutional
process and requirements. Social Work profession suffers one of the highest
brain drain in Nigeria due to unfavourable condition to practice. Social Work
intervention is needed in the Justice system as prison welfare, parole and
probation officers, aftercare and integration service, in health, as
psychosocial therapists, resource mobilisers, advocates and rehabilitation
officers among other services.
“Finally, we are
urging all social workers in Nigeria especially registered NASoW members to be
steadfast and continue to render their services to their clients in a
professional manner they have been doing. The Association is confident that
President Muhammadu Buhari will not sign the Chartered Institute Bill in
error.”
The Federal
Government has appointed Capt. Mukhtar Yusuf Muye as the Director of Airport
Operations, DAO, for Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN.
Spokesperson of
FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
The new Director of
Operations is a highly trained commercial and Multi-Engine Instruments Pilot.
According to Mrs
Yukubu, Capt. Muye had a distinguished career in the aviation Industry.
Until his recent
appointment in the FAAN, he had worked with IRS Airlines as the Chief Pilot.
He takes over the
office of DAO which became vacant after
the appointment of the former DAO, Capt. Hamisu Yadudu as Managing Director /
Chief Executive Office of the Authority.
OIC Meeting: Why we are opposed to calls for Buhari’s resignation –
Ohanaeze Youths
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo
Youth Wing, OYC, has dissociated itself from the calls for President Muhammadu
Buhari’s resignation.
Ohanaeze had
through its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mazi Chuks Ibegbu said Buhari
owed Nigerians explanation about his trip to Saudi Arabia, for attending the
Organization of Islamic Committee’s meeting barely 24 hours after he was
sworn-in for a second term in office.
Why immediate
attendance of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, OIC, meeting in Saudi Arabia
a day after his swearing in? Mr President Buhari owes Nigerians that
explanation.
“This is a secular
country and a leader that wants to be a mullah or fanatic is
free to resign rather than plunge us into a religious crisis,” Ibegbu had said.
Reacting on Monday,
the OYC through its President-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro said the group
was amazed by such resignation call, describing it as “a rhetoric capable of
plunging the nation into a religious war that will consume Igbos living in the
North.”
“We disassociate
ourselves from any call for the resignation of President Buhari few days after
his swearing in, and urge those behind the call to have a rethink, and stop
using Igbo platform for personal vendetta against the Presidency.
“We should be
forming alliances and building bridges across the Niger, than creating enmity
with predominantly Northern Muslims, by calling on President Buhari to resign
on religious grounds. This amounts to fueling religious crisis capable of
putting the lives and properties of Igbos living in the North under threat and
unnecessary tension.
“We call on Vice
President Yemi Osibanjo to as a Pastor, douse all fears by inviting the
Christian Association of Nigeria and the PFN, and assure the Christian
community that in a Secular Nation like Nigeria, everyone is protected,”
Isiguzoro said in the statement.
I don’t think any Nation is doing what the Buhari-led government has
done – Babatunde Fashola
Former Minister of
Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that the Buhari-led
government has achieved major milestones that could hardly be achieved by any
other country in the world.
Fashola made this
assertion during a recent interview with newsmen at his office in Abuja,
the nations capital.
“This government is
doing something that I don’t think many if any nation has done before. They are
building the entire infrastructure at the same time ports, airports, rail,
roads, power, all simultaneously at the same time.
Often times, what
most countries do is to finish one then go to the other. And it is because we
have outgrown our infrastructure as a nation. And that is why you will see the
commitment of the President to projects like the second Niger bridge, the
Igbodo-Ogoni bridge, the Mambilla power plant, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, all
of these is going on at the same time,” he said.
The Buhari-led
administration kicked off their second term in office on May 29th.
The Vice President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has arrived the Eagle
Square for the swearing-in ceremony of the Buhari administration’s second term.
Osinbajo arrived
alongside the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
The Vice President
arrived the venue at exactly 9:43 and in company of his wife, Dolapo
(nee-Solade) Osinbajo.
President Muhammadu
Buhari and Osinbajo defeated their counterparts of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Peter Obi, in the 2019
presidential election.
The Vice
President-elect and the President-elect submitted their assets declaration
forms to Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, on Tuesday evening, and are set to take
the oath of office for their second term.
May 29: SERAP sends letter to Buhari, makes demands
On a day his second
term in office will officially kick off, the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to
“publicly commit to making every day count in his second term stay in Aso
Rock”.
SERAP urged Buhari
to ensure that every segment of his government’s daily operations is lawful and
rule-of-law compliant, for the sake of fairness, justice, your legacy, and the
success of his anti-corruption agenda.
This was contained
in a letter dated 29 May 2019 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole
Oluwadare, to President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of his inauguration for a second
term in office.
The organization
expressed: “serious concerns that the results of the ‘rule of law MOT’ in the
past four years are uniquely damaging to your government’s fight against
corruption and to the country.”
The letter read:
“Making a public commitment to dedicate every day of your second term as a
‘Rule of Law’ day will help to ensure that decisions of our courts are fully obeyed,
refocus, improve and reinforce the anti-corruption agenda. It will also serve
as a reminder that no one has immunity from the law, not even the government.
“The deficits in
the rule of law have been particularly notable in three areas: failure to obey
decisions of Nigerian courts, failure to push for transparency in asset
declarations by high-ranking public officials and failure to push for
unexplained wealth orders against former presidents and former governors and
other senior public officials suspected of living on proceeds of corruption and
‘dirty money’.”
“We urge you to use
the opportunity of your second term to begin to implement your oft-expressed
commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying decisions of Nigerian
courts, promoting transparency in asset declarations by publishing widely
details of your assets declaration, encouraging Vice-President Professor Yemi
Osinbajo to do the same, and instructing all your ministers to publish their
asset declarations.
“We also urge you
to immediately instruct your next Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice to pursue unexplained wealth court orders against all
former presidents (and their estates), former governors, former presidents of
the Senate and former speakers of the House of Representatives aimed at forcing
those of them suspected of living on proceeds of corruption and ‘dirty money’
to reveal sources of their fortune or risk forfeiting it.
“Nigeria’s
democracy ought to have as its foundation respect for human rights and the rule
of law. Treating the decisions of Nigerian courts as not binding is
antithetical to any contemporary notion of the rule of law and democracy, and
clearly counter-productive to the fight against corruption.
“Ignoring or
refusing to obey decisions of our courts is implicitly rendering the judiciary
powerless to enforce constitutional and legal rights, violating separation of
powers, undermining the rule of law, and ultimately, raising serious question
marks on the government’s commitment to fight grand corruption.
“Democracy is an
inherent element of the rule of law, and obeying decisions of the courts,
pushing for transparency of high-ranking government officials and going after
former senior officials suspected of living on proceeds of corruption and
‘dirty money’ are closely connected with the existence and consolidation of
democracy, good governance and development.
“Persistent
disobedience of decisions of our courts by the government has opened the way
for many state governors to do the same within their states including by using
anti-media laws to suppress the civic space, target journalists and human
rights defenders, grant to themselves pensions for life and commit grand
corruption and other appalling atrocities.
“High-profile
judgments your government is refusing to obey include at least two judgments
obtained by SERAP. The first is the judgment by Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari
ordering the government to tell Nigerians about the stolen asset it allegedly
recovered, with details of the amounts recovered. The second judgment, by
Justice Mohammed Idris, ordered the government to publish details on the
spending of stolen funds recovered by successive governments since the return
of democracy in 1999.
“Another court
order that is yet to be complied with is the order for the release of Islamic
Movement of Nigeria leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenah,
from unlawful detention, obtained by human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, Femi Falana.”
May 29: What Nigerians should expect from Buhari’s second term – Sen.
Alimikhena
The Senate Deputy
Chief Whip, Francis Alimikhena, has said Nigerians should look forward to a
more purposeful government in the renewed four-year mandate given to President
Muhammadu Buhari by the Nigerian people.
The senator
representing Edo North Senatorial District, stated this in a statement by his
media assistant, Mr Ben Atu, in Benin on Wednesday, NAN reports.
He said that Buhari
had, during his first term in office, demonstrated statesmanship, trust, and
dedication to service to humanity and would use the renewed four-year mandate
to consolidate on his achievements.
“President
Muhammadu Buhari has shown steadfastness with his promise that he was indeed
for nobody but for everybody by giving voice to the collective aspirations and
yearnings of Nigerians.
“We may not have
gotten to where we want to be, but we are also not in the same place where we
use to be as a country,” he said.
While commending
the President for his humility in victory, the senator said, “President Buhari
have served his pact with Nigerians and it behooves on Nigerians to stand
together in adversity and overcome the threat to our national development.”
He appealed to all
those stoking the embers of discord at various levels and quarters of the
Nigerian state to “embrace peace for the purpose of our common destiny”.
According to him,
destiny has placed a burden on the Nigerian people to work together for peace
and unity of the country, adding that this should be done “irrespective of our
religious and political divides.
“We must rise to
the occasion and salvage our country from retrogression collectively and
individually.
“Nigeria belongs to
Nigerians and not any individual. It is wrong to subject the country to an
unusual unrest to satisfy individual ambitions.
“We must together
forge a common front for the peace, progress, and stability of our country.
“Democracy cannot
be achieved without opposition, but we must also be challenged with the fact
that there is no government better than that in which everybody is involved
irrespective of party platforms.
“Good governance is
the elimination of premodial sentiments by upholding public interest above
party affiliations.
“We must be our
brother’s keeper by putting aside petty bickering and work together for the
common good of our çountry.
“We need to embrace
our democracy by harnessing our collective strength, rather than partisan
political strife which has impinged upon our developmental efforts in the past
years.
“The Inauguration
of president Buhari today, should mark the end of partisan politics and
bifurcating bickering among political gladiators.
“Elections have
come and gone, good governance is what Nigerians expect from all of us
irrespective of the positions we occupy or the party that we belong.
“Our core business
is to safeguard the collective interest of all Nigerians.”
Breaking: President Buhari and VP Yemi Osinbajo sworn-in for second
term (Photos)
President Muhammadu
Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have been sworn in for their second
term by CJN Tanko Mohammed at an event holding at Eagle Square, Abuja.
Biafra: IPOB reveals why
Nigerian Government shutdown Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri seaports
The Indigenous
People of Biafra, IPOB, Monday, said that the Federal Government’s closure of
the seaports in the South-South was to strangulate the economy of South-East.
This was part of a
statement signed by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful on
Monday.
In the statement,
Powerful quoted IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as demanding the reopening of
Warri, Calabar and Port Harcourt seaports.
The IPOB described
their continued closure as one of the injustices it had been fighting.
The statement
added, “IPOB is about the liberation of all Biafra territories. Only mischief
makers will imply otherwise.
“Yet, some people
from the coastal part of Biafraland will beat their chest to admit to working
towards one Nigeria and foolishly channel their grievances against the same
IPOB that is trying to save all of us.
“These traitors
hiding under the name of one pro-Biafra group or another cleverly forgot that
their masters in the Federal Government have reached an agreement to build a
dry port worth $250 million in Ibadan, while Igweocha a city the British
colonial masters renamed Port Harcourt in Rivers State has no functional port.
“It is on record
that I have consistently asked for the reopening of Warri, Calabar and Igweocha
seaports.
“For those accusing
us of making IPOB an Igbo affair, Warri is not in Igboland, neither is Calabar,
but as anyone in the know will testify, I have always insisted these demands of
reopening South-South seaports, be met before any formal dialogue can take
place.
“It was not a
Biafran or Igboman that killed Ken Saro Wiwa, neither was it an Igbo man that
killed Adaka Boro. Why it is that Yoruba that support northern hegemony gets
everything whereas the governing elite of the coastal region loyal to the North
cannot attract the same level of interest?
“A new mega-seaport
is being built in Badagry to add to Tin Can and Apapa Wharfs but South-South
seaports were closed down to strangulate the economy of Biafra.
“They have railway
lines crisscrossing the entire West, but there is nothing in our land (South
South and South East).
“Where are the
Fulani approved elites in the South-South or the Arewa Consultative Forum
anointed leaders of South-East? Don’t we have resources for a Seaport site?,
yet $250m will be spent to build an artificial one.
“These traitors
will not fight their oppressor, but are comfortably happy to accept crumbs
falling off the master’s table to fight IPOB, that is fighting to liberate
them.
“I have never and
will never collect money from anyone to sell or compromise our puritanical
stance because unlike these stomach infrastructure agitators, I will sacrifice
anything sacrificeable to get Biafra.
“I rejected every
financial inducement when I was incarcerated and detained in Kuje, I would not
insult myself by accepting anything from anybody now. I want to tell Ohaneze
Ndigbo leaders, Igbo governors, PANDEF leaders and every other meaningless
‘settle me and my boys groups’ out there that our problem is their lack of
patriotic discipline and weak mindedness. IPOB has gone way too far in this
effort to restore Biafra.
“The jihadist Arewa
core north have given N100 billion to Fulani Herdsmen killers, but how to stop
30th May Biafra Heroes Remembrance Day, is of paramount issue to Igbo
politicians. Is this not the height of misplaced priorities?
“It’s a shame to
the Old Eastern region, how the North keeps on messing with our brain because
some people cannot afford to resist financial inducement. They keep on fooling
our so called leaders and disgracing them out of power in the end.
“The level of humiliation
and marginalization is now a shame to our region. What a shame…look at how
Okoroawusa is being disgraced from pillar to post after serving his Fulani
kinsmen. His only mistake is that he has an Igbo name. They have even forgotten
that he is one of them. That is the extent of their hatred for anything
Biafra.”
‘Give us security votes to
end kidnapping, banditry, others’ – Iwo monarch tells FG
Oluwo of Iwoland in
Osun State, Oba Adbulrasheed Akanbi, has called on the Federal Government to
make provision for security votes for the traditional institution to help fight
insecurity in the country.
Akanbi, who spoke
to journalists in Osogbo yesterday, said the traditional rulers were closer to
the grassroots and were privy to the intelligence needed to curb crimes in
communities.
He said: “Traditional
rulers should be empowered to domesticate security at the grassroots which
constitutes higher percent of the hideouts for kidnappers. Co-opting monarchs
will unavoidably decimate security threat.
“Traditional
institution should be given security vote to engage local hunters, vigilante,
the Agbekoyas, trusted local Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), among others.
“In my own
capacity, I am trying my utmost best in my domain but the institution I
represent deserves security funding to act more.
“I have personally
arrested a criminal in my domain and handed him over to the police. I know the
nooks and crannies of my city. No criminal can survive with illegality here. I
have instilled the fear in them and this has decimated atrocities in Iwo. I am
ready to do more if empowered by engaging trusted local security details.
“The police saddled
with this primary responsibility is underfunded and under staffed. Nigeria of
over 200 million population is parading about 300,000 policemen. The police
should be equipped with modern tools and should be paid good salaries and as
well be assured of job security to motivate them for maximal performance.
“Government should
provide surveillance helicopters to aid technical detective assignments by the
police, most especially when searching kidnappers’ hideouts.”
Boko Haram/ISWAP: FG reacts to Obasanjo’s claim on islamization, fulanization of Nigeria/Africa
The federal
government has asked former president Olusegun Obasanjo to withdraw his recent
comments which imputed ethno-religious motive to Boko Haram, ISWAP, terrorism
in the country, as well as apologise to Nigerians.
We had
reported that Obasanjo on Saturday decried
the high level of insecurity in Nigeria, stating that the Federal
Government alone cannot tackle the menace.
He regretted that
both Boko Haram and herdsmen acts of violence were not treated as they should
at the beginning.
According to him,
“They have both incubated and developed beyond what Nigeria cannot handle alone.
They are now combined and internationalized with ISIS in control.
“It is no longer an
issue of lack of education and lack of employment for our youths in Nigeria
which it began as, it is now West African fulanization, African Islamization
and global organized crimes of human trafficking, money laundering, drug
trafficking, gun trafficking, illegal mining and regime change.”
But reacting in a
statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, averred that such “indiscreet, deeply offensive and
patently divisive comments are far below the status of an elder statesman”.
He added that, “It
is particularly tragic that a man who fought to keep Nigeria one is the same
one seeking to exploit the country’s fault lines to divide it in the twilight
of his life”.
The minister stated
that Boko Haram and ISWAP are terrorist organisations pure and simple, adding
that they care little about ethnicity or religion when perpetrating their
senseless killings and destruction.
”Since the Boko
Haram crisis, which has been simmering under the watch of Obasanjo, boiled over
in 2009, the terrorist organisation has killed more Muslims than adherents of
any other religion.
“The terrorist
group blown up more mosques than any other houses of worship and is not known
to have spared any victim on the basis of their ethnicity.
“It is therefore
absurd to say that Boko Haram and its ISWAP variant have as their goal the
‘Fulanisation and Islamisation’ of Nigeria, West Africa or Africa,” he said.
Mohammed pointed
out that President Muhammadu Buhari put to rest the mis-characterization of
Boko Haram as an Islamic organisation when he said, in his inaugural speech in
2015, that ”Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far away from
Islam as one can think of”.
He reiterated that
Obasanjo’s comments were therefore, “as insensitive and mischievous as they are
as offensive and divisive in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country like
Nigeria”.
“It is wondering
whether there is no limit to how far the former President will go in throwing
poisonous darts at his perceived political enemies.”
The minister noted
that Obasanjo’s prescriptions for ending the Boko Haram/ISWAP crisis, which
include seeking assistance outside the shores of Nigeria, are coming several
years late.
He said President
Buhari had done that and more since assuming office, “hence, the phenomenal
success he has recorded in tackling the terrorists”.
”Shortly after
assuming office in 2015, President Buhari’s first trips outside the country
were to rally the support of Nigeria’s neighbours – Benin, Cameroon, Chad and
Niger – for the efforts to battle the terrorists.
“The President also
rallied the support of the international community, starting with the G7, and
then the US, France
and the UN.
”That explains the
massive degrading of Boko Haram, which has since lost its capacity to carry out
the kind of spectacular attacks for which it became infamous, and the recovery
of every inch of captured Nigerian territory from the terrorists,” he said.
The Minister also
noted that Obasanjo’s call for wide consultations with various groups as part
of the efforts to tackle the Boko Haram crisis has been neutralised by his
ill-advised comments which have served more to alienate a large number of
Nigerians, who are offended by his tactless and distasteful postulation.
He called on the
former president, whom he said took bullets for Nigeria’s unity, not to allow
personal animosity to override his love for a united Nigeria.
The Presidential
Implementation Committee on autonomy of state legislature and judiciary has
tasked state governors on the full implementation of autonomy for the two arms
of government.
This is contained
in a 12 point communique issued at the end a two-day retreat in Abuja on
Friday.
The communique was
signed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, Chairman of
the committee, the Secretary, Sen. Ita Enang and 20 other members of the
committee, NAN reports.
The committee noted
that following the assent by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration) in June 2018,
granting financial autonomy to state legislatures and judiciary, it was
observed that it was honored more in breach than in compliance.
“As a result, President
Muhammadu Buhari, inaugurated a Presidential Implementation Committee on the
Autonomy of State Legislature and Judiciary (“The Committee) on March, 22.
“The committee is
to fashion out a workable national strategy for the implementation of financial
autonomy of state legislature and judiciary in accordance with the provisions
of Section 121(3) of the Constitution.
“This is to ensure
that funds appropriated to these two tiers of Governments at the State level,
are released to them directly.
“Upon inauguration,
the committee adopted its work plan and held a number of technical meetings,
sub-committee meetings, strategic consultations among others which culminated
into the 2-Day Retreat.
“The retreat was to
provide a broad based platform for stakeholders to brainstorm and articulate an
effective national strategy for the implementation of autonomy of States’
Legislature and Judiciary,” it noted.
The Retreat was
attended by a cross section of stakeholders from the Legislature, Judiciary,
Representatives of Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, Representatives of
Parliamentary Staff Union of Nigeria (PASAN), Civil Society Organisations,
among others.
They commended
President Muhammadu Buhari, for the bold step in signing the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration) into law.
The stakeholders
also commended the president for inaugurating the Presidential Implementation
Committee on Autonomy of State Legislature and Judiciary.
They noted that the
move was a clear demonstration of his commitment to give effect to the
financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary at the state level.
“There are various
levels of minimal compliance in various states but all fall short of the
expected compliance, as budget performance across 36 States of the federation
show that while the least allocations to state judiciary in the past three
years was 0.6 per cent of the state budgets, the entire allocation was 4.89 per
cent.
” We therefore urge
the governors as heads of the Executive Arm of Government to begin full
implementation of the financial autonomy granted the legislature and the
judiciary.
“The should equally
adopt the budgeting model operating at the federal level where the sum due to
the judiciary and the legislature are captured as first line charge in the
budget laid before and passed by the Legislature.
” Meanwhile, the
budget proposal of the legislature and judiciary should be defended before the
relevant committees of the legislature.
“The total sum,
both Capital and Recurrent, approved in the Annual Budget of the state, be
released monthly on a pro–rata basis by the Accountant General of the State,
directly to the heads of the legislatures and the judiciary, and heads of
Judicial Service Committee or Commission.
“The budgeted sum,
Capital and Recurrent howsoever describe released to the Judiciary to be spent
by the Judiciary on the projects, programmes and capital development of the
Judiciary, including recruitment and training of personnel. And so for the
Legislature, ” it stated.
The communique
further stated that ” current practice in some states where appropriated
recurrent expenditure due the judiciary and legislature in the budget, were
released to the judiciary and legislature and the capital components are
warehoused in the Executive was abolished.
“The Nigeria
Governors’ Forum is appreciated for its commitment to the implementation of the
financial autonomy of state legislature and State Judiciary in Accordance with
the 4th Alteration to the 1999 Constitution (as amended);
“There shall be
created a State Allocation Committee comprising the Commissioner of Finance,
the Accountant General of the State, the Clerk of State House of Assembly,
Chief Registrars of High Courts, Sharia Court of Appeal and Customary Courts,
Secretary of Judicial Service Commission/Committee and Secretary of State Assembly
Service Commission if any.
” This is for the
purpose of determining the amount due to each arm of government based on the
budgetary provision but subject to the funds available to the State;
“The retirement
benefit and pensions of judicial officers of Superior Courts of records in the
State should be paid by the National Judicial Council as they receive their
salaries and allowances from the NJC while in office;
“State Houses of
Assembly to pass Funds Management Law or Budget Process Law by whatever name
called, as a legal framework that will ensure judicious budgeting and use of
funds accrued to the State.”
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